The Belles has been on my "must read" list for quite some time, but before reading the first few pages, I was already starting to feel the hype pressure. You know what I'm talking about? That feeling when a novel is talked about and talked about and then you start to get nervous you might not like it and be excommunicated from the book world??? Well, I got that feeling. And sadly, I think the feeling was warranted. Don't get me wrong, the novel wasn't bad... It was good. But I just don't think it lived up to the ridiculous hype (which is quite hard to do, honestly).

The story line in The Belles was definitely unique and interesting. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters and their personalities, but something just continued to fall flat for me. I felt like the novel was a bit predictable. Even the "plot twists" were pretty predictable. I also wasn't a huge fan of the love interests. I just kept having the feeling of wanting more from the characters.

But enough about what I didn't like. Let's talk about the good stuff! I looooooved the world building. I could perfectly imagine the beauty products and gorgeous elaborate dresses, and the palace seemed magical! I think the mini animals were quite possibly my favorite part of the book. I think I would want to have a mini panda bear! Clayton's magical world reminded me a bit of the Capitol in Hunger Games and I loved it.

All in all, The Belles was an interesting novel that explores identity, self esteem, confidence, and the world of privilege. I had a few issues with the pacing and depth of characters, but overall it was an interesting read and I look forward to reading the second novel. Thank you to Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley for sending the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 3/5

Original, thought-provoking dark fantasy! The Belles are held in regard, just below the royal family. They train, from childhood, to control beauty, shaping beauty in others. Raised in solitude, vying for the coveted spot of "favorite" ( Belle to the royals), Cahighrmellia and her sister Belles arrive in Orleans naive and unaware of the trials they'll face. Extremely descriptive of fashion / beauty and slow moving, at times. Good book for book clubs and schools about social issues. First book in a series. Waiting to see where the next book takes us! 3 1/2 stars.
Voluntarily read ARC, thru Netgalley and publisher, for honest review.

In a world where everyone is born ugly, the Goddess of Beauty has blessed the Belles with the ability to create beauty through their arcana. Raised amongst her sisters, Camellia wants nothing more than the honor of being the Queen's favorite. She wants to make everyone feel beautiful and be beautiful, just like her mother did. Yet Camellia is starting to realize that beneath all of the glitz and glam are thick layers of rot.

I really enjoyed this book, which takes today's strive for beauty, and general Versaillespiration, and turns the dial to 1000. It reminded me a lot of The Jewel in tone and environment, where girls with powers and fertility are kept by rich and powerful women to give them babies and be pets or whatever, where everything is beautiful and dazzling but filled with a dark underside. In Camellia's world, beauty is everything and true beauty can only be attained by the Belles, who are glamorous yet sheltered. But this beauty is fleeting, and it leads to ever increasing yearning to be the prettiest of them all—yes, that allusion to Snow White is intentional—and has created a world where illusion and insincerity rule over all. While the story initially starts off like an overdecorated cupcake, with lots of fluff and flippery and no substance, it quickly darkens with little hints that all is not well in the state of Denmark.

Camellia is a decent heroine who behaves as a girl raised in a cloistered and rigidly structured environment would. She wants rebellion, but only within the confines of her world. I loved her relationship with her sister-Belles and how close they all were, although they are separated for the majority of the book. The magic-system is intriguing as well, as were Camellia's deepening understanding of her powers, and I really liked that skin color didn't matter one little bit. All colors were welcome and beautiful except the default grey of the Gris, and caramel-skilled Camillia is one of the most beautiful of the girls.

I'm definitely looking forward to book 2!

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book. The concept was interesting, but just ended up feeling too contrived. There was just enough mystery and intrigue to keep me going, but to me, it just fell flat.

Camellia is a Belle, a revered descendant of the Goddess of Beauty who is responsible for keeping the people of Orleans beautiful. When her best friend and fellow Belle gets assigned to be the favorite of the queen, Camellia doesn't think her life can get any worse. Then, she's awoken by crying every night, other Belles go missing, and she's suddenly summoned to take the role of favorite. To make matters worse, she has to try to stay on the good side of the infamously temperamental and eclectic Princess Sophia. 

I've heard great things about author Dhonielle Clayton, so when I found out I would have the chance to read her newest book, I was ecstatic. The summary of the mysteriously magical Belles and the new world of Orleans was enticing as well. Plus, look at that cover! How beautiful and enchanting is that? Anyways, it was a trifecta of excitement and I'm thrilled to share my review with you all. 
Clayton does an amazing job of building the world of Orleans. Part of the reason she's so successful is because she mixes strange new language in with French phrases and translations. This creates an unique and intriguing world that I've never seen before, but feels oddly familiar. Everything in Orleans is ornate, vivid and easy to picture. As a writer, I'm bewildered by the author's ability to convince this world is real so easily and envious of her ability to do it within the first couple of chapters. 

All of the characters in this book was well rounded and interesting, from our narrator Camellia to her rarely seen sisters. It's a full and diverse cast, each minor character coming to life on the page as if they were the most important part of the scene. It reminds me of a quote by Jocelyn Hughes: "Treat all your secondary characters like they think the book's about them." I rarely see examples as good as what you can find in this book. Camellia as a narrator is complex, often acting out in unexpected ways, but she's still relatable. There was never a point in the novel that I doubted Camellia's authority as the narrator or didn't root for her. 

The plot of this novel is absorbing. From the first chapter I was obsessed with finding the answers Camellia poses to her readers. I became completely absorbed in this story in a way a lot of books don't. One night, I even fell asleep thinking about The Belles, had a dream that I was a Belle, and when my husband woke me up I panicked because Belles aren't supposed to have men in their beds. Anyways, the tension is constantly on the rise in this story. It can be exhausting if you try to sit down and read it in a short span of time, so give yourself some time to really savor and enjoy this plot and the setting. There are incredible twists and turns, especially as you get near the end of the book too, so hold on tight! 

The Belles is a beautiful crafted and enjoyable story. Dhonielle Clayton does an amazing job of building the world and characters of the novel. You will be completely immersed in the fight of Camellia and the other Belles. The Belles was released on February 6th, so you can buy yourself a copy today. And keep your eye out for the sequel, hopefully coming soon. I know I will be waiting for it eagerly! 

The Belles is available for order in stores and online now. Buy a copy on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, or better yet, request a copy from your local bookstore!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was gorgeous. The world building was great and left me impressed there were certain things I could have done without (tw: assault animal violence) but what I really like about this was that it was unique and something I hadn’t really read before. I liked the first half but found the second half dragging along even as the ‘villain’ was revealed and I felt the first half of the novel was really great especially with all the building and the background that’s given with the discussion about what it takes to be a Belle and how they’re looked at as objects instead of people and how the hierarchy is done. There were certain aspects of the novel that I had to reread to understand but after a while I got what the terms were implying. I did like this but I didn’t love it however I would read a sequel.

I really enjoyed my time reading this boom. I loved the plot and characters. I did find the book a little slow at times and didn’t care much for the writing style, the story itself definitely kept me invested. My only question now is when does the next book come out?

There isn't anything I can say in this review that hasn't already been said a thousand times over. The Belles is an incredible story. Period. Full stop. It's gorgeous, it's lush, the world building is spectacular, the characters are dazzling, the atmosphere is a glittering jewel that hides an incredible darkness. God this book is just everything and it deserves every ounce of the hype it gets and more.

I swear that I had to beg steal and murder to get an ARC of this book. The minute I heard about it I knew I NEEDED to read it and I didn't have the patience to wait.



GUYS THIS BOOK! GAH!

This author has crafted such a complex and invigorating world that I swear chapter after chapter I was feeling more alive and obsessed.

The Belles are beautiful and complicated and some fo the most interested characters that I have ever read about.

In a world where beauty is desired and valued above all else, the world gets very dark very fast and goodness it was complex and beautiful and I got SO HOOKED.

I am already salivating for the next novel. I hope this becomes a trilogy, heck even a full series. I could imagine so many adventure sin this world. For my first novel from this author, I fangirled over it so completely page after page.

So much characters building and world exploring in the first half of the book, and once we got to the middle it was non stop. I couldn't wrap my ind around the world and the questions that were popping up.

This author is absolutely brilliant. BRILLIANT. YA lovers are going to devour this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the ARC and Bookish First for the hardcover copy of The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton! I absolutely loved every moment of this book! The Belles is a confection of a book with the beautifully descriptive writing of the author, Dhonielle Clayton. Based on Orleans mythology, a creation of the author, The Belles involves the world formed after the God of the Sky fell in love with the Goddess of Beauty. Together they had children. Sky became jealous of the time that Beauty spent with their children, so he cursed them with sadness and dreariness. Beauty sent the Belles to bring beauty back into the world. This tale is told with decadence and is a joy to read. Camellia becomes the Favorite and hears and sees strange things that no one will explain. Everyone wants her to ignore her pondering and just do her job as the favorite Belle; bring beauty to Orleans. The mysteries keep growing and Camellia struggles to understand Princess Sophia, what happened to her Belle sister Amber and why everyone is exceedingly secretive. Sophia’s madness becomes clear and Camellia is bound and determined to help the Queen keep Sophia from becoming the next queen of Orleans. Intriguing and suspenseful, The Belles is delightful and dangerous with characters that are good, evil and in between, 5 stars!

I loved this book and can't wait for the next book in the series.
I found it to be a quick read, because I couldn't put it down. You are immediately immersed in the story and come to connect with the characters quickly. There is so much mystery and intrigue surrounding what the Belles can do and their lives after their debut. So much happened in this book it is hard to believe it only covered a small time frame. The Belles' abilities is unusual but pretty cool to read about. I can't wait to find out more about how they come to be.

I really wanted to love this book, especially with it being a book by a woman of color, about girls of color - I will always, ALWAYS do everything in my power to support marginalized authors and books where the people I love can finally see themselves represented. That said, so much of what could have been good about this story was broken down by subpar storytelling, a boring narrative, and most of all: the wretched "kill the gays" trope. I am so, so tired of seeing this utilized as a way to evoke pain from the reader. Please do better, Dhonielle.

And so the journey begins... The Belles is similar to many YA stories of a girl in a castle who sees injustice and treachery and tries to conquer it all to save the kingdom. However, the uniqueness of this story is the heroines are not princesses, but women who can alter beauty upon request. The Kingdom is full of people who see themselves as plain and grey; they are cursed by the Gods. The Belles are born to create beauty for everyone using arcana which is similar to magic.

At first, I was not impressed with the story line, but as I dove further into the story, the plot thickens and questions of who to trust are running through my mind. The character involvement and the descriptions caught my attention as well as the desire to know who will be saved and who will be punished.

After completing the book, I smiled at how the book teases you to want more, and, yes, there is more to come. I look forward to finding how the Belles come together to bring justice to the kingdom and change society to see beauty within rather than on the outside.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

I finished The Belles and was planning on a 4.5 star rating. But after reading the author’s note and acknowledgements, I knew I had to bump it up to a solid five star.

I’ll be honest, everything about this book enchanted me from the start. The cover, which is wow; the setting, which feels like even though it’s a fantasy world could truly be (or could have been) a real place; and the characters are everything I wanted and more.

The Belles takes place in the kingdom of Orléans, where all of the people are born gray and ugly. In order to become beautiful, they use The Belles who are the only ones not born gray and have the power to give anyone their desired beauty look...for a price. A competition is held between all of The Belles once they reach a certain age to determine who will become the favorite and get to work in the palace with the royal family.

The Belles takes a look at the price of beauty both physically and mentally. It asks the question of how much is too much and forces us to question everyone (even ourselves) as we are forced to witness the pain everyone must go through. Is beauty really worth the pain?

And how far will we all go, and when is the stopping point.

Five out of five stars for the teacup animals, the questions I asked myself, and for the beautiful writing.

Also, thank you for not sinking my ship! It was starting to look dreary near the end. :D

If you haven’t already added this book to your TBR pile, go do it now! And bump it up to top of the list. I was a bit skeptical when I first picked this up- I mean, how can you build a whole world and plot just around being beautiful? The author totally put me in my place! Not only does she write in such a gorgeous way as to suck you into the story and be part of it, but everything flowed wonderfully, the world was lush and detailed without being boring, and the plot, though slow to build, was great. The ending left me reeling- I didn’t see that coming! The only sucky part now is having to wait for the next book :)

Leaving reviews on Goodreads and Amazon

A beautiful book with a dark heart, The Belles is a wonder of world-building and myth and I can't wait to see where Dhonielle takes the story next!

The Belles was a book that I've had my eye on since like the end of the 2017 summer. I did only hear great things so I went in with medium hope for this book and came out on the bright side. I did really enjoy this book even those it does have the theme of a 'group of people competing against each other' but that was just a part of this book for me.
I did have a few problems with this book but not every book is perfect and there is always things people aren't going to agree with. But at the end of the day just because you liked and enjoyed a book, doesn't mean you agree with everything that had happened in that book.
Camellia is the lead character, who's smart, caring and a bit sassy at times; and a bit of a poor sense of judgment. Who at times can be a perfectionist, which doesn't bother me, I am the kind of people who like things one way and always try my hardest and get's worked up when it doesn't go the way I feel it should. (So, I understand that.)
The romance was a push and pull for me and I'm not sure how I feel about. That's all I'm going to say about it.
I did have a fear about how this book would go about the theme of beauty and how it matters in this world but the author did a great job of balancing it. It went about covering how it doesn't matter without leaving the story behind. I enjoyed the different types of beauty. From skin, shape, hair texture, gender and how it doesn't matter that a person can go from dark skin to light skin, with no problems, that people won't look down on them for their skin, hair or body types.
There were quite a lot more mysteries min-plots that what I thought there was going to be. For me, this felt list a story of min-plots twisted into one main plot.
Overall, I know that this book does have it's problems but at the end of the day, this was a book that I read in one day because of drama, writing style, and the Belles history and what they can do may for an interesting read.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Imagine a world full of beauty. A place where you can choose how you look from the color of your skin, hair, eyes, size and change them on a whim. Welcome to Orléans. The people here, the Gris, were cursed by the God of the Sky and now their skin is grey, their eyes are red and their hair is like brittle straw. The Belles are from the Goddess of Beauty and use their arcana to change the Gris’s appearance and make them beautiful again. Each generation, the Queen chooses a favorite from the Belles. Camille always wanted to be chosen as the favorite. Her mother was the favorite of her generation and Camille along with her five sisters have been training all their lives to compete to be the Queen’s favorite and live in the palace. After being presented on the night of their sixteenth birthday they will all learn where they will serve in the kingdom. But they will also learn the truth about beauty and the arcana they’ve been bestowed with. They’ll also learn how far the Gris are willing to go to be beautiful.

The Belles is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It has so many different elements and is so extremely imaginative. A world where you can determine every single bit of your appearance and there are people who can change your appearance at will. And the extents to which these changes can be made are absolutely mind blowing. I want to take a second and completely gush about how beautiful the world building of this story genuinely is. Clayton’s descriptive language and visual detail is stunning. I was absolutely infatuated with the world she built. This story would not have been anywhere near as successful as it is, if she wasn’t able to deliver in creating this immaculate world. With this kind of template, The Belles absolutely thrived.

With the lovely world building, these characters jumped off the page. Camille was a very intriguing main character. She is driven by her need to create but she also sees the beauty where others don’t. She has a heart and isn’t an incredibly shallow character, unlike some of the other characters we meet. Her relationship with the other Belles was believable with just enough competitiveness and comradery to mimic what would be expected of sisters. She is young and full of the faults that you would expect in a teenager. But she is incredibly strong and readers never have a reason to suspect her of being anything other than genuine. She is an incredible narrator for the story.

I absolutely loved this book. I ended up devouring it in two days because I simply could not stop reading it. I found myself swept up in Orléans and these characters. The plot never stopped moving, and was highly unpredictable. One of the things that I enjoyed most in this book were the observations Clayton made about what can be considered beautiful. In a world where you can decide your entire appearance, and fads can be changed and embraced constantly then what is actual beauty. The ways in which people varied themselves and compared themselves to others was astounding. It’s an interesting narrative and one that I can’t wait to see explored in other books of this series!

Drama, a gorgeous and interesting fantasy world, a touch of romance - this book has everything that readers of those pretty dress books want. I do have a lot of questions about the world - it's complicated and lush and decadent, I think on purpose. Readers will need to have some patience, as not everything is explained in this volume.

Hand this to teens who can't get enough of those girls-in-pretty-dresses books (The Selection, etc.

Dhonielle Clayton created such a magical world for The Belles. Her writing is beauitful and descriptive. It is so easy to picture everything as you read it.

Camellia, Ambrosia (Amber), Edelweiss (Edel), Hana, Padma, and Valeria are The Belles. They were gifted by the Goddess of Beauty and this blood creates a sort of magic, but they don't call it a magical ability. They call it their arcana and it helps them create color and beauty. The people of Orleans are born grey with blood red eyes. Everyone looks the same. The Belles are there to help them, mostly the rich, change the way they look and to stand out from one another.

Each girl competes to become the favorite. She is the one who stays with the Queen and King. The favorite is the best and most powerful Belle. But she must also follow orders and be obedient. The rest of the girls are sent to different places to live and serve. The girls quickly learn that things aren't perfect like they expected. There is loud crying at night coming from different areas of the palaces/homes they are living in. They realize there are secret beauty treatments taking place then. People tend to want to push them to do more than they should. There are rules to follow and things that their arcana shouldn't change.


There are so many characters in this book, so I'm only going to talk about a handful of them that stood out.

Camellia is our main Belle that we follow throughout most of the story. She's strong, but also a bit definiant. She's one of the odd people who thinks people are beautiful without all the work. She can find beauty in anyone. I loved her strength and her values.

Amber is the sister that Camellia is closest to. But I had a hard time liking Amber. She is too uptight and must be perfect at all times. She is a rule follower.

Edel was my other favorite sister and I really wish there was more of her. She was funny and didn't follow the rules.

Auguste is a boy that shows up and starts talking to Camellia. He's very charming and persistent.

Remy is the guard for Camellia. He was a bit uptight, but I ended up really liking him. Especially when he started trying to joke around a bit. His relationship with his sisters was sweet.

Then there is Sophia. I don't think I have enough words to describe how much I disliked her. Sophia is the queen's youngest daughter. Her older sister is in a coma, so Sophia will become the queen. But this girl is seriously messed up. And she just kept getting worse throughout the book.


I thought this book did a great job showing the dangers of beauty. The parents in the book didn't care about the pain or how they made their children feel. All they cared about was how beautiful they could become. Most of them thought being super skinny was most important. I did love that each skin color seemed to be loved by everyone. But everything else had to help them stand out. It reminded me a lot about how women are viewed in Hollywood. They just keep getting thinner. If a feature isn't perfect, they have plastic surgery. They need to have the hair that creates the next big trend, the outfit that stands out above everyone else, the perfect straight, white teeth. It's like it's never enough and it's dangerous. Standing out and being different is good, but who says that one thing is more beautiful than another. Our country puts so much pressure on girls at a young age to be thin and beautiful. I found that this book really shows a lesson on the dangers of that.


I've seen some negative reviews where people were really upset by the use of dandy. And I'm not quite sure why. It wasn't meant as a slur and was a common word used in the past (yankee doodle dandy anyone?). There was a line that stated that the minister of beauty was followed by "his team of dandies". This term is used correctly by definition and the past timeframe (I assume this book isn't present time.) The definition of dandy is: a man unduly devolted to style, neatness, and fashion in dress and appearance. I'm not sure why anyone is hurt by that. It's not a negative word and shouldn't be associated with sexuality. Maybe it's become a slur that I've never heard, but it's not meant to be one. Here is a longer definition: A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self. Historically, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, a dandy, who was self-made, often strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle despite coming from a middle-class background. Though previous manifestations of the petit-maître and the Muscadin have been noted by John C. Prevost, the modern practice of dandyism first appeared in the revolutionary 1790s, both in London and in Paris. I'm sorry if that hurt anyone, but I hope people read the definition and understand what it means.


This book has some backstabbing and it's hard to know who to trust. The last 1/4 of the book was really hard to put down.


There are some things that probably need trigger warnings. First, self image. I can see that this book might upset people because all the royals want to be thin and associate it with beauty. Another thing is that there is an attempted sexual assault. There is also death of kind, innocent people.


I ended up really loving this book. It was a little slow for me early on, but that was really the only fault I had with it. I gave it 4 1/2 stars (rounded up to 5 for goodreads). Thank you to netgalley for providing me a copy to read and review.